Snow falling on the upper reaches of the Stanislaus River Basin near Sonora Pass this winter could be flowing through Manteca faucets as water this summer.

It’s because roughly 60 percent of the 4.5 billion gallons of water Manteca uses in a typical year is not taken from the 17 wells dispersed throughout the city.

It comes from surface sources secured nearly 115 years ago by the South San Joaquin Irrigation District.

But it wasn’t until 2007 that SSJID’s water captured to irrigate farms was tapped to help deliver safe and reliable water for Manteca as well as Lathrop and Tracy.

The snow that melts into water to make what could be a meandering trip of over 100 miles can pick up a lot of stuff that isn’t good for you.

But by the time it reaches the city’s distribution system, it is some of the cleanest and safest drinking water on the planet.

Credit that to SSJID water treatment plant manager Ed Erisman and his crew that oversee the conversion of raw water to safe drinking water.

Treatment plant near

Woodward Reservoir

The treatment plant on Dodds Road some 22 miles northeast of Manteca and a half mile from the base of SSJID-owned Woodward Reservoir started delivering treated water in July 2007.

Many mistakenly believe since the water originates from streams high in the Sierra that it is clean.

As the water makes its way into the Stanislaus River it picks up all sorts of foreign objects from bacteria to animal droppings.

It is why the first step in the treatment process involves basins where suspended solids are separated from the water.

The most simplistic way to describe how the process works is water initially flowing into the plant goes through a series of baffles that cause the solids — dirt particles and such — to float through the top of a series of open concrete tanks.

The water then passes through numerous panels with membranes that snag bacteria and viruses.

From there the water is further treated and then sent to a storage tank awaiting its journey westward to faucets in Manteca, Lathrop, and Tracy.

Manteca’s decision to turn to SSJID so they would not need to rely only on groundwater has worked well for the city and situates it better than most California jurisdictions for the future.

It has allowed:

*Manteca to scale back pumping from its stressed water basin to the point well use during the winter is at a minimum.

*It has provided a stable water source to plan for growth and future reliability.

Manteca positioned

for reliability & growth

Manteca paid to be allotted the highest share of SSJID water set aside for urban use

That allotment is 18,500 acre feet of water annually — including 7,000 acre feet through a future second phase expansion of the plant.

Lathrop’s share 10,671 acre feet, of which 3,784 acre feet is in the future.

Tracy opted to take all of its 11,120 acre feet in the first phase.

This sounds like mumble jumble, but in the world of California water is has given Manteca a winning hand.

Keep in mind drought and the over drafting of groundwater for too long can throw some serious wrenches into the equation.

But with Manteca’s relatively successful conservation efforts — assuming they are sustained and enhanced further — wedded with surface water secured by SSJID’s adjudicated pre-1914 rights, the city has positioned itself for long-term water reliability and the water needed for sustainable growth.

Water production varies at the treatment plant with the ebb and flow of demand.

That said, the plant is operating at roughly two-thirds capacity.

It is why the original estimate that work would need to get started by 2025 on the second phase when calculations were made back at the turn of the century is off the mark.

It is likely now at least a decade or so away.

And it’s not because growth was slower than anticipated.

It is because cities continue to scale down water use through conservation.

“About 90 percent of the water we treat is for drinking,” Erisman estimated during a talk Thursday before the Manteca Rotary at Ernie’s Rendezvous Room.

Manteca water gurus note that about 50 percent of its demand covers outside water use with well over 80 percent of that going to irrigate grass.

Treatment plant still fairly

cutting edge after 17 years

The treatment plant is still essentially cutting edge even through it is now in its 17th year of operation.

That’s because of the technology incorporated into dozens of panels the water passes through after solids are removed.

Each of those panels submerged in the water are jammed with 25,000 spaghetti-like strands of thin hollow fiber membranes.

As the water passes through, the hollow fiber membranes serve as a physical barrier to contaminants.

The porous plastic fibers are hollow at the center.

The surface is covered with billions of microscopic pores that filter out all known viruses. That allows water to be disinfected and treated with little or no chemicals.

The pores are 0.02 microns. A red blood cell is 0.07 microns.

Microns are equal to one millionth of a meter.

The panels are constantly being removed and cleaned to assure the integrity of the treatment process that has built in redundancies.

Computers and humans monitor all aspects of the treatment operations 24/7 year round. Technicians are constantly conducting water tests to verify the accuracy of computer readings and to make adjustments when needed.

It takes water some eight hours once it enters the plant to be treated and sent on its way to reach the nearest faucets in Manteca.

Water from plant is

among the safest around

Many people have the misconception bottled water is somehow safer than treated tap water.

Bottled water is regulated by the Federal Drug Administration while the Environmental Protection Agency with significantly higher standards regulates municipal water treatment plant.

Making some people’s perception of water safety even more ironic is most bottled water comes municipal water systems such as Windmill Express water kiosks found in shopping centers or from water bottling plants such as the Safeway Select brand that is bottled in Merced.

All the heavy lifting to make water safe to drink is done at treatment plants such as the one SSJID operates.

Erisman said it is “crazy” the bad rap some give treated water delivered from system such as operated by SSJID.

“The problems people have with water is often the result of their aging pipes,” Erisman said.

And those with water softeners in areas where there is a higher mixture of well water mixed in, often fail to replace filters in a timely manner.

Treatment plant staff is constantly monitoring 37 miles of transmission pipe that at any given time contains 14 million gallons of water.

There are also four pump stations that deliver water to city systems as well as three storage tanks capable of holding a million gallons of water each.

The SSJID also has in place state-of-the-art microwave communication towers along the pipeline.

That means instead of data transmission, security camera feeds, and readings being delayed for as long as six seconds they are instantaneous in real time to further enhance safety.

To contact Dennis Wyatt, email dwyatt@mantecabulletin.com